Grand Cherokee SRT wears its heart on its sleeve. Before you even get inside, the styling of the 2014 model hints heavily at its sporting intentions. LED light accents, blacked-out grille, bezels, and lower fascias, new tail spoiler, 20-inch, 5-spoke, polished rims, sculpted hood, SRT badge. The look leaves little doubt that this SUV prefers its fun on pavement, rather than off-road.

Hit the start button, and the Hemi V-8 barks to life, providing a deep, rumbling soundtrack to your travels. The 6.4 liter Hemi — which carries over from last year's model — is still rated at a healthy, 470 horsepower and 465 lb. ft. of torque. This year, it's paired with a new running mate. Out goes the former, dated, five-speed transmission, in favor of an eight-speed automatic. The new eight is a significant upgrade. The 8HP70 is a fully electronic unit, with on-the-fly shift mapping. With a library of over 90 shift maps, the transmission is always poised to evaluate your current driving situation, and respond with a shifting strategy that complements your situation, accenting performance or economy.

The steering wheel is fitted with paddles, for those times when you choose to shift it yourself. During those occasions, you find that the gap between paddle push and gear change is satisfyingly short, and the abundance of gears makes it easy to grab just the right cog to keep the power flowing.

The transmission program includes rev-matching downshifts, to smooth the cog-to-cog transitions, and there's an onboard Launch Control function, if you happen to find yourself at a drag strip. Launch Control optimizes powertrain and electronic traction aids to make for quicker, more consistent times.

Thanks to all of the above, Jeep's prediction of faster 0-60 times for the 2014 edition of SRT seems like a sure thing. I had neither a stop watch nor a drag strip at my disposal, but based on past performance of SRT8's and seat of the pants estimates, the latest SRT should clock in at about 4.5-4.75 seconds. Fast indeed for a 2 1/2 ton SUV.

There's also an Eco mode, which tweaks transmission mapping and can deactivate four cylinders (when not needed) to conserve some gas. The EPA estimates that the SRT will return 13 mpg's city and 19 highway. I logged 14 overall, which is pretty bleak, though buyers of specialized performance vehicles like the SRT are typically more concerned with mph than they are mpg's.

Thanks to the new trannie and a beefed up rear differential, the hot rod Grand Cherokee has improved towing capability. Equipped with the Trailer Tow Group ($995), the new rating is 7,200 lb. — up a whopping, 44 percent over the outgoing model.

Lest we forget, for all this track talk, the Grand Cherokee SRT is an SUV with Jeep's Quadra-Trac, on-demand All Wheel Drive system. A center console knob allows drivers to select from five dynamic modes, to suit their driving situations. Auto mode apportions torque 40 percent front, 60 percent rear. Sport splits the power 35/65, front/back, while Track takes it one step further, at 30/70. Finally, Snow or Tow each go 50/50. My test drive was (happily) miles from the nearest snow bank, but with a tire change to something more winter-friendly, SRT would be on firm footing to deal with the airborne delights of a Capital District winter.

When SRT first began tuning various Chrysler family products some years ago, the early Jeep version never felt quite grounded to me. Not that I was expecting snake-belly low handling, mind you, but it felt disarmingly tall in the turns. With its lowered ride height and heightened chassis tuning, the 2014 SRT's handling grip belies its size, and would embarrass a number of smaller automobiles. Ride quality was fine on the smooth roads of my test drive, but those considering the SRT would do well to check the effects of the suspension's stiffness on ride quality, here on our hearty, lumpy northeast roads.

The interior melds the upscale practicality of a Grand Cherokee with some SRT specific performance gear. The driver is greeted by a fat, grippy, flat-bottomed steering wheel, heated for cold weather comfort. Satin metal trim marks the boundaries cleanly, while the leather wrapped instrument panel and center armrest nudge the interior's vibe in an upscale direction. Front seats are heated, ventilated and leather wrapped. Visibility is above average, as the rear headrests will bow forward when the seats aren't in use. Rear seats provide enough room for 6-foot passengers, with like-size up front. Cargo capacity ranges from 35.1-68.7 cubic feet, accessed through a remote, powered lift gate.

For 2014, SRT gets a new, Uconnect touchscreen. The 8.4-inch display allows access to the (standard) navigation system, as well as a new feature that allows you to stream music into the vehicle via your favorite app (Pandora, Slacker, iHeart, Aha). You can swap the standard, 506 watt, 9-speaker sound system for an optional, 825 watt (!) harmon/kardon system. The $1,995 up charge includes 19-speakers and a subwoofer, but a single disc CD player adds $195.

Included in the roster of standard, safety and convenience features are: Forward Collision warning, a front/rear park assist system, blind spot and rear cross path detection, and a rear backup camera.

The new SRT packages an impressive amount of performance in a comfortably upscale, tech-friendly interior. All that power stamps the "Sport" in this Sport Utility in boldface type. But, this is no winter hibernator. Grand Cherokee SRT is versatile enough to live up to the Utility part of its name, too, all year 'round.

A regular contributor to the Times Union for the past 20 years, Dan Lyons is the award-winning author of six books, and photographer of 140 calendars. Read Dan's recent reviews on line anytime, at www.TimesUnion.com.